League-leading Global FC registered their fifth win in as many matches after they dominated Kaya FC, 3-0, in the ongoing 2016 United Football League season, Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
It did not take long for Global FC to make their moves in the offensive as Team Captain Misagh Bahadoran started to become dangerous in the flank. After just eight minutes, the People’s Club won a free kick outside the box.
In the ensuing free kick, Bahadoran whipped the ball towards Hikaru Minegishi, but the ball bounced off the ground. Fortunately for Global, Milan Nikolic sent the ball to Louis Kaole, who headed it home to open the scoring for the reigning Cup champions.
Kaya tried to score from the counter attacks with Kenshiro Daniels up front. However, Global’s backline did well to deny an equalizer midway through the first period. Instead, the blue-shirts continued to pounce on every opportunity to attack.
With Global knocking on the doors for their second of the match, Kaya again probed into the opponent’s final third. Global’s goalkeeper Patrick Deyto, nonetheless, had the composure to deal with the yellow-shirts’ shots from the set pieces to maintain the scoreline at the break.
It was a similar story in the second period. Global converted swiftly their first chance to score. In the 48th minute, Minegishi found some room to operate in the left flank, ran past Kaya’s skipper Aly Borromeo, and attempted a shot from outside the box. The ball, which Borromeo tried to head towards keeper Michael Acton, bounced awkwardly back to Minegishi. The Japanese striker then made no mistake, and blasted the ball to put his team at a 2-0 lead.
With persistence, Kaya finally had their biggest chance to score in the 61st minute. Robert Lopez-Mendy, who came back after missing the past game, had Deyto on his mercy and Daniels as support, but sorely overshot at the goal by mere inches. Daniels had his own chance seven minutes after, which Deyto once again stopped.
From there, a see-saw battle ensued between the two proud teams, before the away side put the cherry on top of this comprehensive win. Substitute Paolo Bugas fired from inside the box and his shot was blocked. Once again, a teammate was there to clean up the chance. Nikolic directed a shot to the onion bag, which deflected off Kaya’s Masa Omura for Global’s third and final goal of the match.
Global FC Head Coach Leigh Manson was visibly pleased with the massive victory. With his team 5 points clear of JP Voltes FC, he said, “It was huge win. I hope we continue our run of wins.” Manson also remarked that he is not worried about the goal difference for now, and noted that it is more important from them to continue winning. He said, “They do that (score many goals) and then we beat them, we are still ahead.”
“I will try to rotate my players in the next games,” Manson said, sharing that some of his players might need some rest. He concluded that he might make two to three changes in his starting XI in order to affect this plan.
Global FC put their undefeated record at stake when they face Forza FC on the following Saturday, June 25 at 1:45pm. Meanwhile, Kaya FC hope to return to winning ways when they battle Green Archers United FC next Sunday, June 19 at 4pm.
